Oversleeping: Campus Band Spotlight

Oversleeping. We’ve all done it, but until now Greenville University has yet to see a band that goes by such a unique and straight-forward name. With an Instagram profile that reads, “We would say ‘see you in class’… But we probs won’t,” it makes the band all the more relatable. I had the privilege to hang out in the studio with the members of Oversleeping and get to know them a little bit better as well as learn a some more about the band’s history. In its short existence, the band has managed to make a name for themselves among the many other bands and groups on and off campus in the Greenville area.

Oversleeping came into the GU music scene at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year. The band has three members: Jesse Taylor, Ricky Lewis, and Dolan Heard. Jesse, the founder and first member of the band, plays electric guitar and sings lead vocals. He started by spending time making some demos to show potential band members the sound they were going for as a band. Soon after, Ricky joined in on bass, as well as singing some background vocals. Dolan Heard then found out about the band and wanted to join in too. Heard plays drums and does background vocals.

While the band considers themselves some form of an alt pop-punk, the musical tastes, and influences of each of the band member vary greatly. Some of those influences include but are not limited to Pop-punk, jazz, gospel, metal, psych-rock, hardcore music, etc. Because of these wide musical tastes, individual versatilities, and their differing skill sets, the band is definitely a force to be reckoned with. Heard stated, “It’s nice because we’re all sound engineers, we’re all drummers, and we all play a different instrument on top of that.”

Being able to use their talents aside from just the instrument they play live makes songwriting much more efficient and effective. It also allows the band to be able to collaborate to write songs rather than just one person writing for the band like what oftentimes happens within the music scene.

Double-double EP announcement Source: Jesse Taylor

With newfound prominence in the Greenville music scene, the band announced via Instagram that they are releasing an EP on March 3rd, 2018. The EP is called Double-double EP which the band lovingly referred to as a “concept album.” Their Instagram post contained the definition for the term double-double, which is used in statistical descriptions regarding the sport of basketball. The caption read,

“double-double1. This occurs in basketball when a player has double-digit figures in at least two statistical categories, such as points and rebounds.”

When I asked if the title was referencing the fact that all three members of the band play at least two instruments, they all agreed. However, that was not their main reason for naming the EP what they did. The band went on to explain that the reason they named the EP Double-double is that there are only two songs on the EP, but each song has a “regular” version and an acoustic version. It was a very creative way to explain what was on the EP, while at the same time being vague enough to provoke outside interest.

Oversleeping can be found on Facebook and Instagram under the handle, @oversleepingband. They also have a YouTube account called Oversleeping Band. Follow their social media to keep updated with new music being released as well as shows and more! Oversleeping has a house show at the Little Bass House by gullies this Saturday, March 3rd, the day their new EP releases.